Buddy the Elf

Have you ever wondered how Santa could know if you've been naughty or nice each year?
Well for years its been a big secret....
but now can be shared if you promise to keep it!

Do you see our little elf hiding in our house?

look a little closer.....(not so close that you see all the dust on my shelf that I can't really reach to dust...someday I'll get to it!)

This is Buddy the Elf. Santa sent him to our house about a week ago to watch over our kids and report back to Santa each night. Every morning he is hiding some where new and the kids have to find him. It has been so much fun to see how excited and WELL BEHAVED our kids have been. Well.... mostly well behaved but they have been going to bed so good especially Brielle who normally pops out of bed 10 times a night before finally falling asleep, hasn't come out at all!
We will invite Buddy back every year!... If only he dusted =)

6 years old!

Well its official my baby is 6. I can't believe how fast the last 6 years have flown by, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and she was just this miniature little baby doll. Katie has been such a joy to have in our family. She is always the first one to offer hugs and kisses to anyone and is always such a sweet girl. She is so smart and is doing so great in school. She makes friends easily and is just a genuinly kind girl. I guess I am lucky that she has stayed "little" for so long but it seems like just recently she has just matured so much. Greg and I are so proud of the person that she is and know that she is destined for GREATNESS! Love you little Katie-bug!

This year we didnt do a friend party because we had made a deal with Katie that she had to stop sucking her fingers and she didnt make it =( But we still wanted to have fun so this morning we decorated her room and the house with paper chains and Buddy the elf left her a note from Santa and himself. Then Katie went to school and took treats for her class. After school Brielle and I picked her up with balloons and brought her home where we just hung out and relaxed all day. Then Brielle had dance and Katie had piano lessons and then we went to dinner at the Mayan. We haven't been there forever and the girls LOVED it. My Mom and Grandma and Jen, Marty, Addison, and Carter came. It was really a GREAT day! Katie said in her prayers tonight that she is so blessed to have had the best birthday ever! We are so glad you enjoyed it... Love ya!

HaPPy BirTHdAY KaTIe!

Molly Mouse's Sugar Plum Debut

Last night my sister in law Holly invited us to the Children's Ballet Theater production of Molly Mouse's Sugar Plum Debut. It was so fun! Greg thought he was going to have to work when we bought the tickets so he didnt come but me the girls enjoyed this time together! Thanks Holly for inviting us!

Phew its done and we actually had fun!!!

It seems like I have been planning and working on this Christmas party for months. But on Saturday morning we finally had our Ward Christmas Party. It was a lot of work to plan but everything came together perfectly. We were lucky enough to have a GREAT Santa come and the kids had so much fun. A friend of mine in the 7th ward told me about all this stuff they had made for their party a few years ago so we borrowed the manger scene and all the costumes for our Christmas Program and it was really nice. I like doing a breakfast as opposed to a dinner because it was just easier and people brought breakfast casseroles and we provided muffins, fruit, and juice/milk.

Dave and Miranda Carlile as Mary and Joseph

Greg and Deno Serini as Shephards
Bishop Toone, Aaron Reed, and Brent Fankhauser as the 3 wisemen

Santa read stories to the kids and then they got in line to sit on his lap. He was so great!!

Catch-up

We haven't really been up to very much lately but it seems like we've been super busy just getting ready for our Ward Christmas party... more on that.
We finally got around to putting up our Christmas decorations and Brielle got to put the star on the top of the tree!

Nana and Papa came over to celebrate Katie's birthday a few days early since they will be out of town on Monday. They gave her some cute dress up clothes for her "Katie" doll.

The girls love to torture Hunter. Just before this picture he was posing so cute for pictures (maybe Nana got a good one) but as I took this picture he decided he was done and started to get up.

Simply having...

My kids have been so excited to hear all the Christmas music on the radio. We listen to FM100 all the time. Today Brielle has been singing this song all day....

"Cindy, Abby a wonderful Christmas time!"